National Weather Service, Lincoln IL -- Summary of Hurricane Isaac Remnants on Central and Southeast Illinois

Hurricane Isaac Remnants
August 31 through September 3, 2012

Jump to: Rainfall Amounts, Tornado Information

The remnants of Hurricane Isaac, which made landfall in Louisiana, moved northwest into Missouri, before curving northeast and tracking across central Illinois. A large area of moderate to heavy rain fell across the Midwest, although a sharp cutoff was noted along the northern edge of the rain shield, as shown in the image below.

Much of this area had been seeing severe impacts of the drought. Despite the heavy amounts of rain, not much flooding was reported, as the ground absorbed much of the moisture.

Specific Rainfall Information:


24-hour rainfall ending 7 am Saturday, September 1	24-hour rainfall ending 7 am Sunday, September 2	24-hour rainfall ending 7 am Monday, September 3

The bulk of the rainfall occurred from Friday through early Sunday, although eastern portions of Illinois saw another half to 1 inch occur through the day on Sunday. (Click images above to enlarge.)

The following observations were compiled from official and unofficial reports from around the area. Official sites include Automated Surface Observation Stations (ASOS) and cooperative weather observers (COOP). Unofficial observations include the CoCoRaHS network and the Significant Weather Observer Program (SWOP) network. Note that the ASOS and COOP observations are considered preliminary, until certified by the National Climatic Data Center.

Also note that the tabular listing below includes only the 35 counties in central, east central, and southeast Illinois that are covered by the Lincoln NWS office. Observations for other parts of the state are available from the following links:

North central and northeast Illinois (NWS Chicago)
West central and southwest Illinois (NWS St. Louis)
Southern Illinois (NWS Paducah)

Amounts are listed in descending order. Official stations are highlighted in bold.

Cass County:

4.88 -- Virginia
4.48 -- Beardstown

Champaign County:

5.61 -- Thomasboro (5 miles east)
5.05 -- Fisher
4.49 -- Dewey (2 miles north-northwest)
4.52 -- Sidney
4.10 -- Urbana (southeast side)
4.08 -- Broadlands
4.07 -- Homer (2 miles north)
4.01 -- Urbana (south side)
3.78 -- Ogden
3.74 -- Mahomet (1 mile south)
3.45 -- Urbana (IL Water Survey
3.27 -- Philo (2 miles east-northeast)
3.26 -- Willard Airport
3.14 -- Philo
1.85 -- Penfield (2 miles north)

Christian County:

5.93 -- Taylorville (2 miles southwest)
5.11 -- Morrisonville
4.57 -- Edinburg (3 miles west)
4.56 -- Pana
4.03 -- Kincaid (3 miles west)
3.63 -- Pana (6 miles north-northeast)

Clark County:

2.50 -- Marshall (5 miles west)
2.24 -- Martinsville
2.05 -- Martinsville (10 miles south)
1.95 -- Casey

Clay County:

5.74 -- Flora
5.39 -- Flora
5.30 -- Clay City (4 miles southeast)

Coles County:

3.64 -- Mattoon (west side)
2.88 -- Mattoon
2.60 -- Mattoon (sewage plant)
2.52 -- Charleston (EIU)
2.34 -- Charleston (1 mile south)
2.02 -- Loxa
1.99 -- Coles County Airport

Crawford County:

2.40 -- Robinson (WTYE radio)
2.08 -- Robinson
1.97 -- Palestine
1.36 -- Hutsonville

Cumberland County:

4.03 -- Neoga
3.60 -- Neoga
3.49 -- Neoga (2 miles northeast)

De Witt County:

4.44 -- Farmer City (3 miles west)
2.98 -- Clinton

Douglas County:

2.55 -- Tuscola
2.38 -- Arthur
2.19 -- Newman (4 miles southwest)

Edgar County:

2.34 -- Hume (4 miles north)
1.47 -- Paris
1.17 -- Paris
1.09 -- Chrisman (4 miles east-southeast)

Effingham County:

5.45 -- Beecher City
3.43 -- Watson
3.40 -- Effingham (3 miles southwest)
3.32 -- Effingham
3.04 -- Effingham (2 miles west-northwest)
2.94 -- Effingham (7 miles north)

Fulton County:

5.47 -- Canton
5.08 -- Canton (3 miles east)
4.42 -- St. David
3.83 -- Bryant
3.74 -- Avon (5 miles northeast)
2.91 -- Astoria

Jasper County:

3.63 -- Newton
3.62 -- Hidalgo (3 miles southwest)

Knox County:

4.54 -- Abingdon (1 mile north)
3.12 -- Knoxville (1 mile northwest)
2.81 -- Galesburg (water plant)
2.32 -- Galesburg
2.20 -- Altona
2.06 -- Dahinda

Lawrence County:

2.41 -- Birds (3 miles west)
2.14 -- Birds (2 miles east)
1.95 -- Lawrenceville
1.56 -- Lawrenceville-Vincennes Airport

Logan County:

4.09 -- Latham (2 miles southwest)
3.66 -- Chesthut (2 miles west)
3.36 -- Beason (4 miles southwest)
2.92 -- Mount Pulaski
2.65 -- Lincoln (6 miles northeast)
2.39 -- Beason (5 mi. west-southwest)
2.32 -- Lincoln (2 miles west)
2.20 -- Lincoln (3 miles north-northeast)
2.10 -- Lincoln (airport)
1.76 -- Atlanta (7 miles west)

Macon County:

4.11 -- Mount Zion
4.07 -- Mount Zion (1 mile southeast)
3.43 -- Decatur Airport
3.40 -- Oakley
3.35 -- Decatur (west side)
3.11 -- Decatur (2 miles east)

Marshall County:

3.23 -- Henry
1.90 -- Bradford (3 mi. south-southeast)

Mason County:

2.77 -- Havana
2.30 -- Mason City

McLean County:

5.33 -- Le Roy
5.27 -- Gridley
5.18 -- Bloomington Airport
5.00 -- Normal
4.86 -- Bloomington (3 miles northeast)
4.84 -- Bloomington (3 miles east)
4.66 -- Le Roy (4 miles west-southwest)
4.53 -- Le Roy (4 miles south-southwest)
4.45 -- Normal (4 miles northeast)
4.28 -- Chenoa
4.15 -- Arrowsmith (2 mi. north-northeast)
3.87 -- Normal (2 miles east-southeast)
3.63 -- Bloomington (water plant)
3.15 -- Bloomington (2 miles west)
2.89 -- Bloomington (4 miles southwest)
2.87 -- Bloomington (3 miles southwest)
2.49 -- Bloomington (5 miles west)
2.41 -- Danvers (2 miles west-northwest)

Menard County:

5.12 -- Petersburg (7 miles west)
4.53 -- Petersburg
2.30 -- Athens (2 miles north)

Morgan County:

5.20 -- Jacksonville
5.15 -- Murrayville
5.10 -- Woodson (1 mile southwest)
5.03 -- Jacksonville (south side)
5.00 -- Woodson
4.98 -- Jacksonville (WLDS radio)

Moultrie County:

3.18 -- Sullivan (3 miles south)
3.17 -- Lovington
2.89 -- Arthur (1 mile west)

Peoria County:

4.68 -- Peoria (5 miles northwest)
2.53 -- Princeville (2 miles west)
2.40 -- Peoria
2.30 -- Peoria International Airport

Piatt County:

4.24 -- Cisco
3.81 -- Mansfield (3 mi. west-southwest)
3.49 -- Monticello (6 mi. north-northeast)
3.27 -- White Heath (4 mi. north-northeast)
3.01 -- Monticello (4 mi. north-northeast)

Richland County:

5.06 -- Olney (4 miles southwest)
3.35 -- Olney (WVLN radio)

Sangamon County:

4.56 -- Springfield (far west side)
4.04 -- Chatham (1 mile east-southeast)
3.77 -- Springfield (southwest end of lake)
3.69 -- Springfield (Walnut & North Grand)
3.68 -- Springfield (north of UIS)
3.39 -- Springfield, Capital Airport
3.30 -- Springfield, CWLP Plant
3.08 -- Springfield (northeast side)
2.94 -- Buffalo
2.92 -- Riverton (2 miles west)
2.64 -- Sherman

Schuyler County:

3.72 -- Rushville (4 miles northeast)

Scott County:

4.63 -- Winchester

Shelby County:

3.86 -- Shelbyville Dam
3.79 -- Neoga (4 miles northwest)
3.42 -- Shelbyville
3.15 -- Windsor
3.14 -- Moweaqua (2 miles south)

Stark County:

2.68 -- Camp Grove (2 miles southwest)
2.32 -- Toulon
1.35 -- Bradford (6 miles west)

Tazewell County:

3.30 -- East Peoria
3.19 -- Mackinaw (1 mile north)
3.06 -- Morton
1.97 -- Pekin

Vermilion County:

2.02 -- Henning (3 miles south-southeast)
1.66 -- Bismarck (3 miles west)
1.53 -- Danville
1.45 -- Danville (9 miles north-northwest)
1.43 -- Hoopeston (1 mile west)
1.20 -- Sidell (5 miles northwest)
1.05 -- Danville (sewage plant)
1.04 -- Westville

Woodford County:

4.82 -- Minonk
4.75 -- El Paso
3.32 -- Eureka
3.15 -- Roanoke
2.15 -- Germantown Hills (2 miles north)
2.05 -- Congerville (2 miles northwest)

Tornado Information:

With instability and strong low-level wind shear due to the remnants of Isaac, 9 tornadoes touched down during the period. Two were on Friday evening, August 31, and the other 7 occurred during the day Saturday, September 1. Most of these were weak and on the ground for a minute or so, but a couple did produce some damage.

Date	Time	Location	Strength
August 31	5:12 pm	0.6 miles south of Franklin (Morgan County)	EF-1
August 31	5:32 pm	3 miles west-northwest of Franklin (Morgan County)	EF-0
September 1	Noon	2 miles east-southeast of Benson (Woodford County)	EF-0
September 1	Noon	3 miles north of Benson (Woodford County)	EF-0
September 1	12:05 pm	4 miles north-northwest of Benson to 1 mile east-southeast of Pattonsburg (Woodford/Marshall Counties)	EF-0
September 1	12:32 pm	1.5 miles southeast of Hopewell (Marshall County)	EF-0
September 1	1:08 pm	4.5 miles east-southeast of Wyoming to 5.7 miles east-southeast of Wyoming (Stark County)	EF-0
September 1	1:10 pm	4 miles southeast of Castleton to 3 miles southeast of Castleton (Stark County)	EF-0
September 1	1:24 pm	4 miles north of Wyoming (Stark County)	EF-0

August 31:

Two tornadoes rapidly developed in a rain band moving to the north-northwest through Morgan County early Friday evening. The first tornado touched down in an open field about 0.6 mile south of Franklin and produced structural damage to a house, mobile home, and auto repair shop around 5:12 pm Friday. The tornado injured a person and was rated as an EF1 - with wind speeds estimated around 90 mph. The tornado was short lived and dissipated after being on the ground for one-quarter mile and about one minute. A second tornado, from a separate storm, briefly touched down in a cornfield 3 miles west-northwest of Franklin around 5:32 pm, and dissipated in less than a minute. (See the map below)

September 1:

Just before Noon until 1:30 pm, seven tornadoes were reported in central Illinois, about 25 miles north to northeast of Peoria. The center of the remnants of Isaac were centered in northeast Missouri, so the bands of rain - and the tornadoes that formed in them - were rotating toward the north and northwest.

The first two tornadoes briefly touched down near the town of Benson in Woodford County around Noon. No damage was reported with these weak tornadoes.

The third tornado formed 4 miles north-northwest of Benson at 12:05 pm, doing minor damage to the tin roof of a farm building. This tornado tracked for about 1.5 miles to the northwest - crossing the Woodford / Marshall County line, before dissipating about one mile east-southeast of Pattonsburg. This tornado was rated as an EF-0 with estimated wind speeds around 60 mph.

The fourth tornado formed at 12:32 pm on the Illinois River, about 1.5 miles southeast of Hopewell. This weak tornado dissipated rapidly and did no damage.

The fifth tornado developed at 1:08 pm about 4.5 miles east-southeast of Wyoming. The tornado was on the ground for about 1.2 miles before dissipating at 1:11 pm. No damage was reported with this weak tornado.

The sixth tornado formed near the Stark / Marshall County line, about 4 miles southeast of Castleton shortly after 1:10 pm. This tornado tracked for about 3 minutes to the northwest, dissipating about 3 miles southeast of Castleton around 1:14 pm. No damage was reported with this weak tornado.

The seventh and final tornado developed at 1:24 pm about 4 miles north of Wyoming in an open field. This tornado was on the ground for less than one mile and dissipated in about two minutes. No damage occurred with this weak tornado.

National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office